M. Scott Johnson – Bio

Biography

New York based sculptor and photographer has literally carved out a legacy as one of the most stimulating and unique artists of his generation. Over the past decade, Johnson has explored, both in his own practice and through his teaching residencies, his vision of the ideal aesthetic, cultural memory and social realism. From childhood, Johnson has been fascinated with the narratives of the African Diaspora. As an undergraduate student, Johnson was recognized and intellectually mentored by noted African-American anthropologist, Dr. Warren Perry. Perry was instrumental in Johnson being selected to participate in the volunteer program Operation Crossroads Africa, a member of its first group entering post-apartheid South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1994.

As an artist Johnson had his first encounter with the practice of stone sculpture while volunteering in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Scott began experimenting with the medium by appropriating broken and discarded sculptures left by artists who worked in the alleyways of the city. As his skill developed, Johnson’s greatest opportunity came in 1996 when he auditioned and was selected to apprentice with sculptor and national hero, Nicholas Mukomberanwa (1940-2002). Mukomberawa helped Scott to develop numerous sensory channels to his form, imploring him to create using the vigor of Black American experiential imagination. In 2001, in an effort to incorporate his creative vision within other mediums Johnson began a journey with photography influenced by the images of Roy DeCarava and Constantine Brancusi.

Scott’s unusual narrative and fascinating contributions the African American aesthetic, has to led to lecture and exhibition opportunities at a number of institutions including: the noted think tank TransAfrica Forum, Hampton University Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art, The Charles Wright Museum of African American History, The New York Botanical Gardens and the New York Museum of African Art. Johnson’s work has been exhibited in galleries across the United States and internationally, including the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Adams House at Harvard University, Columbia University, and The American embassy of Ghana. His sculptures are held in both public and private collections, most notably Wilber Jennings Gallery/Kenkelaba House, Shirley and Ezekiel Reece of the Reece Galleries, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Hampton University Museum where his sculpture, The Judgment of Peter Norton is included in the permanent exhibit.

In 2005, Scott was awarded The Vicktor Lowenfeld sculpture prize presented by The Hampton University Museum for his sculpture “the Tao of Physics”. Since 2004, he has held a visual arts teaching residency with The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. As an educator, Johnson’s residency exhibitions have been viewed by thousands at Lincoln Center’s Cork Gallery, The Town Hall, The Schomburg Center, The Dwyer Center, The Williamsburg Historical Society and MoCADA. In 2009, the Schomburg Center assisted Johnson in publishing the anthology “Harlem Be Thy Name” by the Schomburg Junior Scholars Program. Also in 2009, at the bequest of Harvard University, MICA and Johns Hopkins University, Johnson was invited to a panel discussion at the historic conference “Transformations – New Directions in Black Art” and spoke on the relationship of the artist to the institution. In 2009, images from Johnson’s numerous teaching residencies were presented and archived by the library of congress in a lecture given by the Larson Fellow in Health and Spirituality, Dr. Fayth M. Parks, entitled: “Legacy of Healing: Resilience and Positive Thought in African American Folk Beliefs, Spirituality, and Emotional Healing.”